Assemblywoman Alyson Huber proposes bill to make officials' pay available on websites

Assemblywoman Alyson Huber, D-El Dorado Hills, introduced a bill today that would require all elected and appointed public officials throughout all levels of state government to make their salaries publicly available on their websites.

The public outrage over inflated salaries being paid to some city employees in the Southern California city of Bell was a driving force behind the bill, according to a press release issued by Huber.

The bill, AB 2064, would require each house of the legislature to post on its website the annual salary for all legislators and legislative employees on an annual basis. It also would mandate all constitutional officers post the annual salary for the constitutional officer, any appointed or exempt deputies and any appointed or exempt employees on their official website.

Former Lodi mayor and city council member Jack Sieglock, who is running against Huber in the November election for her Assembly seat, said he is in favor of transparency and public officials posting their salaries. However, he expressed concern over the state's budget impasse and said he would like to see a bill passed that wouldn't enable legislators to collect a paycheck without a state budget in place. "This should pass in two minutes and then they should get back to the budget and get down to work," Sieglock said. "They shouldn't get paid when they can't pass a budget."

Huber, the Chair of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, also announced a hearing on transparency for local government compensation. The hearing will be held in September. An oversight hearing into officials' compensation has not been held since 1987.

Excerpted from www.lodinews.com